In your country when do you change to full pitch?

On a recent tour by an Irish U14 side to France the players and management were astonished to learn that in France they don't play 15 man rugby with full pitches until they are at least 15.

The idea is to continue to play on a smaller level with less specialized positions; the idea being it places a greater emphasis on skills that will be even easier when you get around to playing on a full scale pitch.

In your country (would be especially interested to hear South Africa, NZ, Australia, USA, Canada etc) when does mini rugby make the transition to full pitch rugby.

In NZ, we have Rippa Rugby that is a smaller, non-contact version of the game that can be started with children as young as 3. Every primary school has a place to play rugby.

It´s going back a while but full pitches start at 11 to my understanding.

I think there´s no greater skill you can teach a young rugby player than the value of space. Touch rugby is played on smaller fields and that closed in space encourages the draw and pass or wrap around to create space. But when you play on a big pitch, you also learn not only to close down space on defence but also to create space on attack.

Can't answer your question stag but I do think all the emphasis should be put on developing skills at that age. Playing full games on full pitches with all the rules shouldn't matter as much. Nor should the scoreline matter much in underage games. It should be all about skills.

I heard that Dwight Yorke, growing up in Trinidad didn't even play proper soccer. He played a game where there was one ball and all the kids just tried to get it and keep it for as long as possible. There were no goals. When he did go on to play football he had incredible control over the ball. He hardly ever lost possession.

Whatever the Kiwi's do, we should copy I reckon. We take it for granted, but it's unreal how constantly brilliant the All Blacks are. Their win rate has been incredibly high for over a century. So they have to be doing something right.

I'm sure you know Stag but for those less acquainted, in Ulster they play on increasing amounts of the pitch until age 11 when they move to full pitches for matches although they would frequently still train on a half pitch. At least that's the experience of our kids.

I fail to see how limiting the size of the playing area till the age of 15 assists in the teaching of rugby skils and execution.perhaps the French are just limited for space.

In this part of the World it has often been told how Sir Donald Bradman spent countless hours as a kid hitting a ball against a corrugated iron tank,and that was how he honed his batting skills,but rugby isnt soley such an individually technical team game...therefore the work that needs to be put into elements like passing,tackling,kicking etc by kids is always on going and can be down in any size area,but perfected in games on a full size field.

The impotant thing is that no prerequsite skills are neglected,but rather repeated over and over again until they become an overlearnt skill.

Feckless we are starting to copy New Zealand and it's working. England have poached Tuilagi from Samoa and Wales have poached Faletau from Tonga

But I have heard that New Zealand youngsters don't wear rugby boots untill their early teens (ish) which helps develop speed and footwork or something.. I don't remember ever playing without boots.

Apparently - and dont quote me on this one... Ireland will start to use a full pitch somewhere around 2013.

Anyone else notice how narrow that ground was in Las Vegas two weeks ago for the world sevens tournament?

I think touch has done a lot for our rugby. The size of the field/ no. of players ratio has always been under scrutiny since they kicked off the first tournaments off around 1980 and its changed subtly a few time over the years. EVERYONE who plays League and Union (as well as many other sports) plays touch from a young age and Kia's right about that space awareness thing. Its a big part of the game.

When you think of it, 15 players have to get a tiny ball up to 100 meters over a line nearly 70 metres wide...how hard can that be?

aucklandlaurie wrote: Anyone else notice how narrow that ground was in Las Vegas two weeks ago for the world sevens tournament?

Weren't they playing on a regulation NFL/American Football field? I think thats usually 53 yeards wide (actually 160 feet) and 100 yards long, plus 10 yards for each end zone (in-goal). Does look narrow after watching proper Rugby.

I think in England it is at Under-13s (so the first season after you've turned 12).

I think at youth level there should be more emphasis on 7s, as in dedicating a month to it at the end of each youth season. When I was a kid we had 1 7s tournament after the season and it was often just a bit of a laugh, and was often reserved for those who didn't make the County Final team the week before (if we got there).

With 7s now being an Olympic sport (and in my opinion a fantastic tool for developing skills), I think more should be done to get teenagers play 7s.

"In your country when do you change to full pitch?"

For Scottish players it must be when they can know how to score tries.

Gibson wrote:Apparently - and dont quote me on this one... Ireland will start to use a full pitch somewhere around 2013.

Now there's a man who knows his rugby.

robbo277 wrote:I think in England it is at Under-13s (so the first season after you've turned 12).

I'd agree with this. I coached U7 - U13 at my local club when my son played. The piches gradually go bigger as the you went up the age scales. The bigger pitch wasn't a problem unless I had to ref!

SecretFly wrote:

Gibson wrote:Apparently - and dont quote me on this one... Ireland will start to use a full pitch somewhere around 2013.

Now there's a man who knows his rugby.

At least the Irish know how to score tries unlike the Scots.

I think its a good idea to start on a smaller pitch. The space for a 10 year old to cover means the one or 2 players with pace decide the game and play is forced to get the ball to the top few players on your team. Smaller pitches mean focus is placed more on creating space and bringing the core skills on from an early age. My club used to regularly train playing across half a pitch which seemed to help a lot and then switch to playing 10 a side on a full pitch and also train with players out of position. One year my team used to get smashed because the defensive strategy was to line up against your opposite number. Really didnt work when your centre was buring beneath 2 of the fatties.

Dutch soccer players play on a half-pitch until they are 10/11. They teach them all the primary skills well - in a tighter area first. Make them at one with the ball and forget about too much tactical coaching initially. When they get to a bigger pitch, they have twice as much space to show em off. So simple, So effective. Running the legs off kids and filling their heads with tactics early on, does not make great players make. Anyone can run. Its what you do with the ball (in both soccer and rugby), when you meet the opposition players that counts. Apparently.

They do that in Ireland too Gibbo, for soccer and rugby. In soccer I don't see the point in throwing them into full goals at 12. You just need one big lummox to hit the ball high and it goes in. Pointless stuff and it doesn't promote football. That's another debate though.


In rugby it usually goes to the big guy at that age which also doesn't help. Great to see small, skillful teams win games atthat age. It's great to see at youths too.

Good to see it happening T. The only way forward.

The IRFU have a very good document detailing the full progression through age grade Rugby. Not just pitch size, but also match time, tackle requirements, scrums, and so on. I have seen something similar from the RFU, but I can't find the link.

So, here is the link for the one from the IRFU. There is a grid on the 6th or 7th page which covers most items and the pitch sizes are a few pages later. Good stuff.
http://www.irishrugby.ie/downloads/IRFU_Mini_Rugby_09-10.pdf